Hopewell Fire Department Celebrates New Rescue Pumper Truck (VIDEO)

“Typically, apparatus, such as this, are replaced at about the 20-year mark. We decided to stretch that out to 2[6] years,” said Joe Novak, Chief of the Hopewell Borough Fire Department, who explained that the Hopewell Fire Department covers not only Hopewell Borough but is primarily responsible for a third of Hopewell Township, working alongside Pennington and Titusville. “At the time that truck was originally designed, it met our needs well. However, as time goes on, the amount of equipment we need to cover the vast variety of calls we run greatly increases so the compartment layouts change and equipment is placed in areas just because it fits and not so much because it makes tactical sense. The current apparatus was also not designed to carry the weight we have added to it and, as a result, the frame has cracked twice and had to be repaired. So we have had to remove some of the equipment we would otherwise like to carry on the truck.”

The new truck, at the time of the ballot question cost, $675K to replace the rescue pumper, but comes with twice the water carrying capacity increasing from 500 to 1000 gallons.

Mary Galioto is the founder, publisher and editor of MercerMe. Originally from Brooklyn, Mary has progressively moved deeper and deeper into New Jersey, settling in the heart of the state: Mercer County. Formerly the author of an embarrassingly informal blog, Mary is a lifelong writer and asker of questions and was even mentioned, albeit briefly, in the New York Times and Washington Post. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from SUNY Binghamton and a Juris Doctorate from Seton Hall Law School. In her free time, Mary fills her life with excessive self-reflection, creative endeavors, and photographing mushrooms.
Mary also works as the PR Coordinator at the Hopewell Valley Arts Council, serves on the volunteer Board of Trustees of the Lawrence Hopewell Trail (LHT), holds a seat on the Hopewell Borough Board of Health, and is a member of the Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance.